


It All Started With A Flower

by tadstrangerthings



Category: Penguins of Madagascar
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Flowers, Homoeroticism, Kowalski and Private have a Nice Conversation :), Language of Flowers, M/M, Marlene (Madagascar) (mentioned), Rico and Skipper are bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23370940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tadstrangerthings/pseuds/tadstrangerthings
Summary: "It all started with a flower.The flower wasn’t poisonous to the touch, or venomous, or covered with spikes. It didn’t shoot a toxin, or come with a chainsaw attached, or even have a return address belonging to a frenemy of days long since past.It was just…A flower. A flower that was found on the kitchen table in a blue vase one morning, that no one had any clue where it could have come from.Kowalski said it was a bluebell, but that was the extent of his knowledge about it.Rico said something about Julien placing it there, but Julien rarely left the comfort of his room, and preferred to express his affection for others with more…carnal means.Skipper ignored it when it was first found within their lair, and seemed to express an indifference towards it ever since."Based on @drawbauchery's human au.
Relationships: Private/Skipper (Madagascar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	It All Started With A Flower

## It all started with a flower.

The flower wasn’t poisonous to the touch, or venomous, or covered with spikes. It didn’t shoot a toxin, or come with a chainsaw attached, or even have a return address belonging to a frenemy of days long since past.

It was just…A flower. A flower that was found on the kitchen table in a blue vase one morning, that no one had any clue where it could have come from.

Kowalski said it was a bluebell, but that was the extent of his knowledge about it.

Rico said something about Julien placing it there, but Julien rarely left the comfort of his room, and preferred to express his affection for others with more…carnal means.

Skipper ignored it when it was first found within their lair, and seemed to express an indifference towards it ever since.

Private was the only one with anything to say on the matter, and that was a simple “I like it! Ties the room together, don’t ya think?” and moving the vase closer to a window. This would normally implicate him, but, Private’s played the game of double cross and triple cross quite well before, and quite well. He didn’t seem to be lying about this, though, there was a hint of sadness on his features as he moved the flower to follow the sun after lunch.

“It’s kind of sad how it’s probably going to die in a week.” He remarked to Skipper, who got stuck with dish duty after Rico was sent to time-out for being horny on main and Kowalski bolting after lunch to return to his work, claiming a breakthrough. At least Private stuck around to dry. “Without its roots, all it can do is just slowly wither and decay and all I can do is prolong its misery.”

“Well, thank goodness plants don’t have feelings.”

“It’s still alive.” Private shrugged. “I guess it’d feel nice to have something to care for at the base. Something I can sustain outside of myself. I don’t know, does that sound weird.”

Skipper, in all of his benevolent wisdom simply responded with an “I don’t know,” as well. Because really, what does he know? And what was he going to say? Skipper’s always wanted to have a dog on base, like a golden retriever or German shepherd, but only the A-teams at the agency are allowed to have animals on their bases, and, let’s face it; they aren’t the A-team.

Private shrugged. “Well, at least it’ll look nice while it lasts. Maybe I should pick up a cactus or something…” He muttered before leaving a washcloth on the counter, and Skipper to stack the dishes, as both became divided in their own thoughts, and lost among them as they continued to carry on with their days. Skipper glanced towards the bluebell, the meaning not lost on him.

———

Private, like usual, was very close to being right, but not. Thanks to his attention and care, the uprooted plant was able to thrive for 11 days, though those last 3 days certainly seemed to be a losing battle on the plant’s part. It had to be tossed after that, but not before Private had a moment of silence with the fragile thing before throwing it away.

It was a shame, really. He tried hard with that thing, but maybe he didn’t try hard enough? Maybe his prospects were doomed from the start, and it would’ve been quicker to have left well enough alone, but at least he still tried with it, after all, doesn’t that mean something?

He really didn’t know how to take it, but considering nobody else really thought much of it, more likely to be a mix-up in a delivery than anything actually meaningful, he decided to take it for what it was, so to speak.

Until it happened again the next morning.

———

“Kowalski, analysis.”

“I can only type so fast, Skipper, you think I know this stuff at the top of my head? Aha! Acacia blossoms.”

It could be called deja vu, in a way, but it could also be remarked upon as a bit of a remix, as the plant arrived in a pot this time around, a much more sustainable way of growing it and allowing it to flourish, which Private seemed to be excited about, though he tried not to show it.

“Is it poisonous?”

Kowalski snorted. “Only if you ground up the leaves with glycosides could you make SOMETHING like hydrogen cyanide, which I DID know at the top of my head, but, otherwise, the plant poses no harm to us.”

“So, what have you been looking up?”

“Other aspects surrounding the plant, once is a coincidence, twice is happenstance, and if it happens three times, we’ll have a pattern. Both the bluebells and acacia have an interesting history in herbal remedies and flower language, I might have to look into it later…” Kowalski muttered while pulling leaves off the plant.

“Be careful with it!” Private bemoaned, blocking Kowalski’s hands from ripping into more leaves. “It’s fragile.”

“Look, you boys can toss the bouquet around all you want, but I want this table clean before I’m done making breakfast.” Skipper said, breaking the two up on his way into the kitchen, Rico following - probably on his way to burn some toast and discuss a mission they were pulling off that night- leaving Kowalski and Private to their lonesome.

“I…apologize for being so rough with the plant, but, if you’re able to sustain it, being able to branch out in our weapon’s department could be a huge help.”

“I’m ignoring all that other stuff,” Private said, “but are you sure you want me to grow it? Wouldn’t you be better at it, what with all the sciences you’re into?”

“Private. Just because I’m a scientist doesn’t mean I study the entirety of anything scientific. My knowledge of botany and other soft sciences is comparatively lacking compared to my physics and chemistry knowledge, and, well, you’re the softest person I know.” Kowalski ruffled his hair at that, and Private giggled. “I even know a place where you could grow it if we really want to expand this option.”

“Really?

———

“I didn’t even know we had a greenhouse.” Skipper muttered as Private guided him inside after a few hours of work inside. Apparently, Marlene had promised him the apartment next door rent-free if Kowalski could find a way to restore the value that her apartment complex had somewhat lost due to letting the four + Julien and company live there. The task force had no idea what he did, but apparently it brought the value back tenfold, and so, Kowalski had created a doorway between the two apartments, and inside such a place, one room was dedicated to being a green house.

It was an amazing deal for both of them, which, all things considered, was a pretty rare win-win all around for the task force.

“I didn’t either!” Private said, and after practically dragging him inside, Private flitted around the place like an over-eager honeybee. “I set up the acacia plant in an area where it’ll get the most light, but I just finished setting up the sprinkler system, and oh! These are some of the beds I’ve set up, and apparently Kowalski found some soil in the warehouse and-“

Skipper watched fondly as Private babbled on and on about the flowers and the vegetables that could be grown here, and he could practically see the vision that Private himself was so excited about when he felt a tap on the shoulder.

“Skipper, I found a parallel between our deliveries.” Kowalski said, in a sort of tone that read as urgent but also mad? Skipper was at least a little familiar with it, but, he couldn’t really place it. Skipper gestured a vague goodbye to Private as he forced Kowalski back down the hallway which he came.

“What?”

“They’re wildflowers. Not normally bought in flower shops. Both are native to New York.”

“Alright, so whoever’s sending them is right inside our home state, the one with 8 million people in it?” Skipper said. “That narrows it down a LOT.”

“Why didn’t you want me to say this in front of Private?”

“It’s not like I’m psychic, Kowalski, I didn’t know what you were going to say. I half-figured you were going to crush the kid’s spirit.”

“Does that sound like something I’d do?”

“You do a lot of rather strange things rather unintentionally.”

“Sir, this isn’t the kind of thing to be brushed off. If it isn’t from someone we know, then it’s from someone we DON’T, and that means that that someone is capable of getting into our secret base? Isn’t it usually your job to panic about these things?”

“I don’t panic.”

“I’m sorry, sir, you don’t panic, but you don’t seem all that worried about finding out who’s sending them.”

“When we know, we’ll know. At this point, it’s more likely that it’s a flower delivery gone wrong than it is a malicious plot of some sort. And if it is, we’ll handle it.” Skipper shrugged.

“Skipper, are you even listening to me? I just said-“ It was at this point that Skipper just began walking away from the conversation. If Kowalski was so passionate about this conversation, it would be easy for him to continue, but the sea of apathy and disinterest that came off of Skipper in that moment seemed to make the entire effort fruitless.

Skipper wasn’t all that worried about him, though. He’s a smart guy. He’ll figure it out.

If he didn’t find out sooner, he’d find out later.

———

The mission was pulled off without a hitch, and was one completed with ease. Of course, it’s always easier to manage one person than it is three, and not to knock Rico, but he was easier to work with than most as he didn’t ask that many questions. Of course, maybe that made him all the smarter all things considered. Skipper would still have to bribe him to keep quiet after all.

It was 7:00 in the morning, far too early to be up, but going back to sleep only to be woken up incredibly irritable would be rather suspicious considering he was the first one to “fall asleep” that night. Skipper put a special brew of coffee on, one that he made when he needed it especially strong after an especially rough night. Everything had to be accounted for. The men he worked with were always on edge, so if the slightest thing was off, something would be said. Something almost always was a little off, but, whether they caught it or not was always a little up in the air. In a way it made Skipper almost proud, and coming back from these sort of missions was a fun test for him as well as the crew to see if they could figure anything out, and if Skipper could keep them from figuring anything out.

It was all in good fun, surely, Skipper thought as he scrubbed his hands underneath the kitchen sink to remove any excess dirt from his skin and nails. Kowalski would catch something surely if he was sloppy like that. The wildcard in this scenario was the fact that Rico was involved, and Rico did not possess the same kind of urgency as Skipper did in this instance.

Still, he trusted him enough. That’s what made Rico such a valuable ally. Rico was reliable like that.

Eventually, the coffee had finally reached its perfect temperature and Skipper got to pour himself the perfect cup on a quiet morning, where the orange still hadn’t faded from the sky and the moon was still a faint sliver.

Of course, no matter how reliable Rico was, no matter how unsuspicious he seemed, no matter how he dotted every “i” that he feasibly could, there was no stopping someone who was already suspicious.

“Alright, where is it?” Kowalski asked dryly, it looked like he didn’t sleep a wink all night, and given that he was still in his clothes from yesterday, it showed.

“Hmm?” Skipper hummed, taking a sip from his cup, really savoring that bitter flavor.

“Don’t play dumb here, Skipper. Where’s the plant?”

Naturally, Kowalski was expecting him to say “what plant?” next, if he really was so committed to playing dumb. Instead, however, he replied with “which plant?”

“Which plant?” He echoed, and Skipper’s eyes widened slightly in realization at his slip up.

Shit.

“What do you mean by which-?” Kowalski began to say, but was cut off by the sound of frantic running, only to see Private in the doorway in his pajamas moments later.

“You have to see the greenhouse!” He said, with eagerness in his voice.

———

“Alright, so, first thing’s first, I get up, right? And I was going to grab breakfast, but I figured I should go care for the Acacias, right? But when I open up the door, this is what I see!” Private said, opening the door to reveal a few rows of various flowers already planted within the soil, a few flourishing vegetable plants here and there, a few empty rows for Private to with what he wished, and even a section dedicated to poisonous plants.

“Everything’s at the ready! It’s like I have my own little garden fairy looking out for me!” Private beamed. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Skipper looked at Rico. Rico looked at Kowalski. Kowalski glared at Skipper.

“It looks very nice, Private.” Skipper said, sipping from his mug to keep a smile from showing through. Kowalski raised an eyebrow at him, but seemed to drop it as he took the time to peruse the flowers.

“Acacias, Pink Camellias, Gardenias, Primroses…Very nice selection indeed.” Kowalski murmured, and Private smiled in his direction.

“You know their names?” Private said, heading towards Kowalski to peer at a Daffodil that was peeking a wilting head out of the soil.

“I’ve been doing a lot of research on flowers as of late. We should consider planting some plants that can be used as herbal remedies in here, as well.”

“Oh! That sounds like a great idea! My Uncle Nigel used lavender oil on cuts and bruises all the time!”

Skipper and Rico watched as they tittered away happily.

“Th-This really w-what you w-wanted?”

Skipper shrugged.

“It’s not like I didn’t think this was going to happen.” He stated plainly, though his brows were creased severely. “The first time was a fluke.”

The two stayed silent for a moment.

“F-Fourth time’s a charm?”

“Nah. But, it was nice to do this. Couldn’t do it without you.” Skipper shrugged, giving Rico a fist bump that Kowalski definitely caught sight of, but it’s not like he was going to do anything about it.

———

“So, did you know that all the flowers you were planting mean secret or unrequited love?”

“Flowers mean things?”

**Author's Note:**

> (Hey! I’m back. It seemed too late in the month for a mistletoe fic, and although originally I wanted to do something with flowers for Valentine’s day, it just felt like too long of a wait. So, I wanted to do something with flower language, because there’s nothing more romantic than being secretive, until I realized that nobody seriously invests their time in Victorian flower languages except fan fiction romance writers, so…Here we are.)
> 
> drawbauchery.tumblr.com


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